Poultry yard



p 4, 1934. R. ELLIS 1,972,554 7 POULTRY YARD Filed Dec, 21, 1951 FIG. 1. 9' m INVENTOR BY 7% 7 7w ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1934 UNITED," STATES PATENT oFricE I Application December 21, 1 931 ,Serial mama In Great Britain December 22, 1930 5 Claims. (01.119517) This invention relatesto chicken-rearing and similar appliances, and has for its object to pro .vide an.improved construction.

Apparatus in accordance with my invention comprisesra cage with walls or portions of walls formed by feeding hoppers :fitted on their sides next the interior of the cage with readily-removable barriers which permit access to the interior of the cage, serve to store food in quantity, and limit the quantity of food available tothe chickens. The removable barriers are transparent and are upwardly and inwardly inclined with respect to the interiorof the cage. Each feeding hopper has an outwardly and upwardly inclined back, an upright lip along the front, and an inwardly and upwardly inclined transparent barrier extending above said lip. The bottoms of the transparent barriers are loosely-supported by transverse distance pieces: serrated to allow variation of the angle of slope of said barriers whereby the width of the feeding space may beadjusted. Drinking troughs are also provided which are of similar formation to the feeding hoppers.

The cage may be used alone; or it may be used in conjunction with a separate hover, or a hover is provided within the cage and comprises a supporting frame having stretched over ita layer of woolen. material and having loosely suspended from it an under layer of similar material. Between the upper and lower. layers feathers or down are-disposed, and a curtain of woolen material is suspended. from the edgesof the frame. The frame is detachably suspended within the cage.

The accompanying drawing illustrates. a

chicken-rearing appliance according tov my invention. In the .drawing Figure 1 is a .planand Figures 2 and 3 are 'sectionson the lines 2+2 and 3--3 respectively iniFig. l. In Fig. '1, much of the wire-netting forming-the roof and floor is removed; for clearness. "Figure 4 is a part similar view to Fig. 3 illustrating an alternative construction. Figure 5 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 2 illustrating a detail.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in the example therein illustrated, the appliance comprises a rectangular cage provided with a floor a and a roof I) of wire-netting or other openwork material, and with sides and ends consisting entirely of hoppers which also serve as openings for access to the interior of the cage, thus dispensing with doors and their disadvantages. The hoppers which form the side and end walls of the cage have comparatively narrow floors c and rearwardly inclined backs d. The front of each hopper facing the interior of the cage comprises an upright lip e secured to the floor c, the upper edge of said lip being bevelled to prevent the chickens perching or walking along it, and an inclined glass barrier f the lower edge of which is further from the inner side of the hopper I than its-upper edge and lies slightly below the upper edgeof the lip c, said glass barrier being loosely supportedby transverse distance pieces 9, the upper faces of which are. serrated to allow theangle of slope of the barrier to be varied as may be desired; The.upper edge of the barrier rests against suitable stops 72; adjacent to a narrow top member 7 running the length or width of the hopper. Theends of the hopper are closed by. walls and the hopper may conveniently be divided lengthwise, into suitable sections by means 'held against being pushedoutwards from inside the cage by catches -n (shown best in Fig. 5) whichcan bereadily swung clear when it is desired to remove the glass: If desired, and as "shown, in.Fig. 4:, the glass barrier 1 may be hung by a leatherhinge I .from the top member 7' of thehopper, and the roof netting b may be extended as indicated at b tocover over the opening's between the upper edges of the backs d and the strips 7 for the purpose of preventing rats or other vermin getting at the foodin the hoppers,uthe edges of. the extended netting b are not fastened down but.are held down by weights such as?) (Fig.4).

Some. of thejhoppers are, charged with water and form drinking troughs, and meal or other food isstored behind the glass barriers'j of the otherhoppers fromwhich it gravitates so as to fill the .narrow-space'between the lower edge of the glass barrier) and the lip e, which is the feeding. space,. the bulk ofthe, food resting between the inclined back 11 and the glass barrier where it is in full viewof the chickens thus attracting them and encouraging them to eat. the food in the feeding space is consumed, it is automatically replenished by food falling from the bulk behind the glass barrier 1, but, as only a small portion is available at any time, wastage is avoided. The supply can be varied by varying the angle and height of the glass barrier. The co-action of the lip e and the inwardlysloped glass barrier j prevents the chickens getting into the food and water and also prevents them fouling the same with excrement. The chickens cannot escape from the cage through the hoppers, and side-draughts are prevented. Ready access to the interior of the cage is obtained by temporarily bodily removing any one of the glass barriers I. As the floor a of the period, and a larger size of cage receives the fowls when laying and breeding.

The construction illustrated in shows a receptacle for newly-hatched chickens and is provided with ahover comprising a rectangular frame-o oisuitable size to which are attached the edges of two layers of flannel p, q. Feathers, down. or similar. light material a: 'is placed in thespace between said layers and the lower layer q, being loosely suspended, touches the chickens when theyv are resting or sleeping below it. Around the edges of the frame are'suspended curtains r of flannel slit-vertically from the bottom at interals to allow thechickens. easy access and exit to and from 1 the hover- The frome 01 forming the roof of the hover is suspended from the wire netting b by means of adjustable hooks s or similar readily detachable fastenings, and can be hung in any desired position in the cage. The hover is'comp'leted by loosely the cage a sleeping laying on the floor of mattress t'of fel-torfiannel. The frame 0 and mattress of thehover can be readily placed in position by removing one or more of the glass barriers';' of the hoppers and said frame and mattress'are intended to be retained in the apparatus only so long-as may be necessaryand to be removed so soon as the weather and stamina of the chickens permit.

in extremely cold weather or wh-en'delicate or recently-hatched chickens are being reared; artificial heat may be applied to the hover.

By reason of -the length of food'hoppers provided and the fact that the food is. always. visible to the chickens and there is ample room for them to feed -without crowding together, it be found that chickens rearedand kept in my appliance are healthygstrong and .hardy,.and that losses are reduced to an extreme minimum. 'Iinere can be no contamination of the food by excrement, and there'is thus no risk ofithe chickens eating droppings. There is no excess heat in the hover, and the inmates are free to leave it at any time should they become too warm. As thefloor of the cage is of openwork material, there is. a free circulation of air through .the cage, and, if the chickens climb over each other, the bottom chickens in a heap can alwaysbreathe and risk of suffocation is eliminated. Y

It will be understood that my appliance can be used with equal advantage for rearing ducklings, pheasants and other animals.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:--

1. A rearing appliance comprising a cage with openwork floor and roof and bounded at the sides and ends by feeding hoppers, said hoppers having on their sides next the interior of the cage readily-removable upstanding barriers permitting access to the interior of the cage, means for supporting the lower edges of said barriers in spacedrelationship to the floors of said hoppers, and means for holding said barriers in place.

the drawing.

2. Arearing appliance comprising a cage with openwork floor and roof and bounded at the sides and ends by feeding hoppers, saidhoppers having on their sides next the interior of the cage readily-removable inwardly and upwardly inclined transparent barrierspermitting access to the interior of the cage; means for supporting the lower edges of said barriers in spacedrelationship to the floors of said hoppers, and means for holding said barriers in place.

- 3 A rearing appliance comprising a cage with openwork floor and roof and bounded at the sides and ends by feedinghoppers, said hoppers having on their sides next theinterior of the cage readily-removable inwardly and upwardly inclined transparent barriers permitting access to the interior of the cage, saidbarriers cooperating with the hoppers to store'iood in quantity and to limit the quantity of food available, and means for supportingsaid inclined transparent barriers which allow adjustmentof their angle of slope.

4. A rearing appliance comprisinga cage with openwork floor and roof and bounded at the sides and ends by feedinghoppers, said hoppers having on their sides next the interior of the cage readily-removable inwardly and upwardly inclined transparent barriers permitting access to the interior of the cage, said barriers cooperating with the hoppers to store food 'inquantity and to limit the quantity of food available, and means for supporting said inclined transparent barriers which allow adjustment of theirangle of slope, said means comprising serrated transverse distance pieces fitted in-said hoppers.

5. A rearing appliancecomprising a cage with openwork floor and roof and bounded at the sides and ends by. feeding. hoppers, said hoppers having on their-sides next the-interior of the cage 

